A Fresh Start in the Mission

Dear family and friends,

This week with all of the departing missionaries leaving, and the new ones arriving, there was a lot of work to do. We had to prepare the return itineraries for those leaving, and do work at the police station with the new ones. When new missionaries arrive the mission home is BUSY! Even though we have our normal work to do in the office President and Hermana Lovell ask us to help with different events. We also give our office training and I did it for the first time this time as the official secretary. I feel the weight of the position and I am praying a lot about the specific things that I need help with from the Lord.

The Neuquén District

I was able to translate for the senior couple from Buenos Aires again and that is always a cool experience to see how much Spanish has become normal to me now. The Lord really has given me a gift and I've got to be sure I never lose it. I love the Arnaudins, the couple from Buenos Aires and they want me to visit them after the mission. 

This week I learned with the help of Jesus Christ anything can be done. I was in a jam on Wednesday night when I had to take 10 Latin missionaries to take passport photos, something necessary for what we were going to do at the police station the following day, and at the same time we had to make a payment for something important at the bank. I asked for all of the help in the office and we prepared the documents we needed to make payment. A few minutes before finishing we called four taxis. Elder Moser and my companion went to the bank and arrived 5 minuted before it closed. I sent the missionaries in taxis to the Kodak store and I followed in another. We barely accomplished what needed to be done. It may sounds like a trivial story, but I was so grateful when everything was finished. It was a success for the office and I learned that anything can be done. 

I have also been praying that people in the police station and immigrations will help us out more. With all of the missionaries that went to the police station this week I saw the Lords hand in it all as I was inspired to start making small talk with the people that work there. They really opened up and started asking a bunch of questions about what the mission is like. I also gave them a good laugh when I tried to prepare their mate, a famous drink they have here that I had tried with Sister Packard at home, and I absolutely failed. One of the workers said "tengo una hija de cinco anos y ella sabe preparar el mate mejor que vos!" "I have a five year old daughter and she makes mate better than you do!" When we finished our work there I was grateful for the help they gave us, and that the Lord helped me to establish a stronger relationship with these people so we can do more work in less time. 

All in all I feel like I am starting over in the mission. There are new faces in the office and I am just more comfortable being in the country now. I feel great and I little more willing to give all of my efforts to the Lord. I continue to feel good about my Spanish even though it always can improve. I love talking to people and hearing their stories, especially taxi drivers!

Another cool experience I had this week was when I took the time to say a prayer of complete gratitude for everything God has done for me. Not just during my time in the mission, but for all the blessings I have been given. I am so in debt to him and I love him. I forget that sometimes how grateful I am. It doesn't matter how bad things are for us, there is something to be grateful for. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Office Changes

¡Hola familia y amigos!

It is good to finally sit down and write. It was a great week with all the work we did with the recent transfers. We are also attending to all of the elders and sisters finishing their missions. Today one of my good friends in the mission, Elder Furlanich goes home, and he was the secretary for seven months. I just took his place and when he got here this morning he told me to "just keep moving." 

My current companion leaves for a different assignment today and my new one arrives in a few hours. His name is Elder Thompson and he's from Utah and arrived with me from the MTC. He speaks great Spanish. Roles have changed here in the office and I am the secretary, and Elder Thompson will be the new recorder. In two or three transfers another elder will come in and I"ll train him to be the secretary and Elder Thompson will stay in as the recorder. It will make training easier for new elders. President Lovell is really cool, and one of the blessings of being in the office is working with him. He gets things done and has a lot of patience. 

My Spanish continues to improve and I have the accent down. I love raising the tone of my voice and using the shh sound for the double L and Y letters, and I can always say what I want in conversation. I have learned a lot of different Spanish here in the office, especially by working in immigrations and with the police. I also talk on the phone with church executives in Buenos Aires that help me with legalization issues. I wish I could have everyone here for a day and show them what I do.

I'm excited for these coming transfers because President Lovell wants us out of the office everyday at 4:00 p.m. to study for an hour and then to work our area the rest of the evening. The past two transfers we haven't had much time to preach, but now it will be a matter of just leaving the office at a set time knowing that the work will be there when we arrive the next day. 

I miss teaching and I'm not doing what I did daily in Bariloche. There I would walk all day thinking of how I could help someone, and its been hard to let opportunity go, but my testimony of the Savior is still growing. I know that he feels what I feel more than ever now. I'm thinking that when I leave the office I will have a little more than a year left preach full time. When I get back out in the field I am going to absolutely kill it. 

I have the goal to baptize someone in these upcoming six weeks. There's someone waiting in my area, I know it. 

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Checking In

Dear family and friends,

This was a great week with a lot of adventures. A great deal of planning goes into everything we do in the office, and I continue to learn and do love it. This week we did another round of immigrations. We brought in three new missionaries, all from Peru, and all living in different cities in the mission. We had them legalized in a day and it was a big success. We also had an asado or BBQ last night with the office elders, President and Hermana Lovell and all of the church leadership from a nearby town. Everything was delicious! I feel really lucky to be in the office because there are times when we are spoiled!

Elder da Silva is leaving next week. Transfers were finalized yesterday and we will know on Monday where he is going next, and who is coming to the office to help me. Elder da Silva is my best friend right now and I will miss him.

I love what I am doing even though I’m not teaching full time. I know I’m serving the Lord. I have no doubt. When I do leave the office, I’m going to dedicate every minute I'm awake to people who need help. I look back on the last few months and I say “look how much the Lord has changed me.” I feel like a different person even though I’m still myself. Its something I can’t explain more than that. 

Have a great week everyone. I love you all!

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Manifest the Love of Christ

Hello family and friends!

Another busy week en la gran Mision Argentina Neuquén, or the "MAN." We had a baptismal service last Saturday and it went really well. We encountered a problem with the water in the baptismal font, but after filling a large pot several times and then transferring the water to the font we were good to go!

I was really happy for Pablo who was baptized. My first Sunday here, almost 10 weeks ago, he was talking to us about his desire to be baptized, but things kept getting in the way. Finally we gave Pablo and his family a push and everything went through. I had the opportunity to confirm him the next day which was very cool. That was the first time I have performed a confirmation.

Also this week we had our first lesson with the Ramos family. They are from Mendoza and the lesson went very well. The best part was that they committed to the challenge we gave them of reading just the introduction of the Book of Mormon and then asking God if it is true. Things are looking up in our area. 

In a zone training this week we talked about the love that Ammon had for King Lamoni, and how that love is what caused the King of all the Lamanites to listen to the Gospel. A goal we have as a zone is to make the love we have for others known, and by doing so having more people interested in listening to us. I think its a good idea, not just for missionaries, but for everyone. Trying to make manifest the love of Christ.

I hope this is a great week for you all. Please keep me in your prayers!

Love and miss you all, 

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Mensaje esta semana

¡Buonas tardes!

I had a great week filled with a lot of immigration work. Some set backs with the legalizations, but good progress too. I am happy with the job we did. 

One specific thing I wanted to share was a trip we made to immigrations on Tuesday. It was a complicated trip because we brought in three sisters from the states, all serving in different cities in the mission. I remembered when I had to travel to the capital by myself from Bariloche for my immigration papers. It was a scary experience and I was worried for these missionaries traveling alone.

Taking a rare break from office work

While I was thinking about the trip to immigration the next morning I just laid everything out to Heavenly Father, asking that everyone would arrive safely, on time, and that if something were to happen the sisters would know what to do. I felt good about the prayer and just left it at that. At 8:00 a.m. the next morning we headed to the immigration office and I was overwhelmed when I saw all three of the sisters had made it there! We were only able to finish everything for two of the three, but I was happy and I know the Lord answered the prayer of a very nervous missionary (me)!

 

I’ve been diving into the scriptures more lately and am gaining a greater testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. I read a part today that I loved, something that never struck my attention before, but it did today. When Nephi says that he constructed his ship after the manner the Lord had showed him, I thought that to be applicable in our lives. We shouldn’t do things the way we see the world do them, but after the manner that the Lord shows us.

Pablo, an investigator that I wrote about a few weeks back has his baptism today. He was taking the discussions when I arrived in the area, and it feels good to have played a small part in bringing someone to Christ! He has a strong testimony and is going to be a great addition to el barrio Limay!

As always I hope this is a great week for everyone. I love and miss every single one of you! I know that I am serving the Lord, and even though it’s hard, I love it.

Con cariño,

Elder Kauffman aka Jack